One of the shows my wife and I get into every season is…(Slowed down and said like Ryan Seacreast) ”American Idol.” We love it! Now to be clear you are either an “idol” fan are you aren’t and if you are, chances are you fall into one of two categories:
You love the beginnings and you love the endings.
-OR-
You love it all!
Me, I belong to the later group. My wife and I picked who we thought would be finalist when the top 24 were selected and each week we wanted wild haired, seemingly good hearted Sanjaya to just go home (because he wasn’t that good, people were voting for him because he really was the worst…sad huh?)
Anyway, tonight is the finale! Last night they battled it out in song and America voted and tonight our next ”American Idol” will either be:
-OR-
Personally, I think both contestants are great, but I’m a Blake fan! Did you know that cat (slang for person, homie, individual) can “beep box” (or however you spell it) and can sing pretty dang good too?!? Surprisingly though, this post isn’t meant to just discuss the show, but meant to talk about how the kids feel about the show & why?
A few weeks ago we were talking about fame & power and I asked the kids “how many of you watch the show ”American Idol?” I thought a few hands might go up but what happened floored me! Almost everyone 1st – 5th grade raised their hand (and began to fidget & quietly mutter…oh me, me, me – as if I were about to ask I asked them to be on the show or something).
That floored me! Kids love “idol.” The show is late, not really “geared” for them, but they love it. How does that happen and why? Well, I have a few theories that may force us to ask ourselves some questions about what we “do” for kids. Tell me what you think:
Kids love Competition
Each week we contestants sing & battle it out for who is the best. They compete! For whatever reason kids love that! This is why relays, team focused activities, time activities and much more work so well with them. They love competition & competition can bring out the best (or worst) in us. If kids really do love competition then how are we using that to teach them each week? How are we using that to add to the “fun factor” in a safe way?
Kids are Engaged
If its not through the lights, the singing, the videos or Simon’s point blank opinion…there’s still the voting! Whether you are a kid, teen or adult you are ENGAGED in this show because…YOU DECIDE! How are we “engaging” our kids on Sunday? If they had the choice to come or not…would they still come?
Kids need an Idol
I would probably change the word “idol” to role model or example, but whatever you call it…kids want & need someone to look up to! They want to admire someone and they will find someone where ever they can find them! What are we doing to equipped our leaders to be great role models for their kids? How are we partnering with parents so they know how to be better “loving examples of Christ” for their kids?
Either way you slice it, the culture (world) spends money, time & energy to attract and engage our kids and the only dilemma with that is that….WE are CALLED to reach the kids!!! Don’t get me wrong, I think we can always learn from the tatics of “idol” and others shows and we should be very careful to not confuse ”American Idol.” or other shows with…the enemy. The enemy is the enemy and he is who we are battling (and he is TICKED OFF because Jesus wins)!
So what are we doing? What are we trying new to reach the kids? What are we doing to make sure we always stay creative, relevant and excellent in our approach to reaching kids?
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Welcome back Pudge. I was one of the casualties of your mass deletion. No hard feelings, I too am figuring out wordpress. Great Post. I am constantly amazed how up kids are on shows and topics I would deem to old for them. It really is amazing. As far as who I want to win I don’t really care I was pulling for Sanjaya, he made things interesting every week. I did a post about him I’ll try and do my first trackback. God bless.
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:11 pm
I tried the trackback I don’t know if it worked here the link encase it didn’t.
http://samluce.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/sanjaya-the-next-american-idol/
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I am always amazed at what kids are watching and listening to. I polled my 4th/5th grade boys this past Sunday on favorite movies/tv/music. Scrubs, American Idol, Lost, and House top the list. Spiderman 3 and Shrek (no suprises here). What did surprise me was a lot of them like classic rock. Found out why a few days later… video games play a lot of classic rock. I am always trying to be aware of what their world is so I can understand and reach them and also train my volunteers to be relevant as well.
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Hey guys….great comments! You are right, it is VERY interesting what kids are watching and listening to!! I have a theory on what drive them to such shows and movies…still an unfinished thought, but I will share it anyway.
The common thread I see in a lot of shows/movies that interest kids have great stories (or at the very least, great music). I may do a post on this later because I don’t necisarily think its just kids. We (adults) are the same way…we LOVE a great story! We just wouldn’t classify that as a “reason” most times because we don’t naturally think that way.
Then again, what makes a story…great? We will definately have to visit this idea again later! It should be fun!
pudge